Proteins can be one of the hardest macronutrients to meet when starting a flexible diet. In a world where carbs and fats are easily accessible, convenient, inexpensive, and delicious… well OF COURSE meeting protein numbers is going to be hard!
So why are proteins so important?
- They help with enzyme and hormone production (among other bodily chemicals)
- They are the building blocks of bone, cartilage, and tissue (like muscle!)
For athletes, getting enough protein is HUGE in recovering from your daily training schedules- they are, after all, the building blocks for our muscles. The typical and general explanation can be understood as this: During a workout/training session, your body utilizes muscle and breaks it down. In order for your body to be just as strong or even stronger by your next training session and in the future, you need to re-build this muscle tissue. Well you can’t rebuild if you don’t have your building materials (PROTEIN)!
For others on a flexible diet, maybe your goal is to lose fat, lose weight, lean out, etc… well protein is just as important for this process as it is in your recovery after the gym!! For weight loss, your body needs to burn energy/burn calories/workworkwork! What better way to make your body work than by giving it a job to do: BUILD! Think of protein as a bunch of bricks that need to be a house- as you build this wall, brick by brick, you’re using up energy- BURNING CALORIES. By consuming protein, your body is now saying, “I need to do something with this… let’s get to work.” Typically (and against common belief), in a weight loss plan, your protein numbers are actually going to be higher than a weight gain plan. I’ll be going into this reasoning in the blog entry Mmmmacronutrients – Carbohydrates (Part 3).
Here are some good proteins to add into your diet:
- Meat – This is a pretty obvious one if you were born in this millennia. Meat is a main source of protein for many of us and if we are looking to build muscle or maintain our lean muscle mass, it only makes sense to eat muscle tissue! When incorporating meat into your diet, it’s important to remember that animal protein can contain a good deal of fat. Just be sure to count the fat too! Some of my favorite meats:
- Beef – can be high in fat dependent on the cut.
- Salmon – fats from salmon are the good kind! This makes salmon a good source of healthy fats too!
- Cod – nearly zero fat making it a good source of JUST protein when you need it.
- Chicken Thigh – I think a lot of people think dark meat is “bad” and therefore lean more towards chicken breast or white meat. Chicken breast is really hard for me to enjoy and, really, the only reason it’s considered “healthy” is due to a low fat content. But that’s the beauty of flexible dieting: I can eat fat if it fits!
- Greek Yogurt – I like getting the non-fat plain greek yogurt which is 0 fat a few carbs and loads of protein. Doing this allows me to control for how much “other stuff” can be put into it. For example, instead of buying greek yogurt with fruit already in it, I can buy the plain greek yogurt and add my own. I can add fruit, I can add honey, OR if I want to limit my sugars/carbs, I actually put stevia into it for a 0 carb 0 calories sweetener.
- Cottage Cheese – Similar to greek yogurt for me in the sense that I eat it pretty much the same way.
- Peanut Butter – This becomes super handy when I need protein AND fat. Goes on anything or I can just eat a spoonful of it!
- Protein Powder – A SUPER easy way to meet your macros because you can literally pour out how much you need. I usually have 1-3 protein shakes per day, but if you’re looking to have less, then I suggest just having this in the house so you can top off your macro tank at the end of the day with whatever protein you have left to reach. My favorite protein powders: Pro7ein Synthesis, Forzo Pro Protein, and Xendurance Extreme Xecute… all 3 products I purchase atNutrishop South Valley.
Are you a vegetarian? Vegan? Here are some other options for protein sources!
BE CAREFUL- many foods advertise as having protein content but some foods only contain incomplete proteins. This can apply more for vegetarians or vegans, but regardless, you want to be sure you eat COMPLETE proteins! What are complete vs incomplete proteins? Click the question to read an article about the difference, but I’ll be blogging about that in the future too
So what proteins work for you? Leave a comment and let other people know!
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